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James McCulloch (4 June 1953 – 27 September 1979) was a Scottish musician best known for playing lead guitar and bass as a member of Paul McCartney's band Wings from 1974 to 1977. McCulloch was a member of the Glasgow psychedelic band One in a Million (formerly known as the Jaygars), Thunderclap Newman, and Stone the Crows. His brother is drummer Jack McCulloch.
McCulloch also made appearances on many albums, including John Entwistle's Whistle Rymes in 1972, as lead guitarist playing alongside Peter Frampton on "Apron Strings" and "I Feel Better". McCulloch also played guitar on Roger Daltrey's album One of the Boys which was released in 1977.
McCulloch was a friend of the Who and a member of the band Thunderclap Newman, which was created and produced by his mentor Pete Townshend. He was found dead in his London home in 1979, aged 26, of morphine poisoning.
He made his performance debut as the guitarist for the Jaygars, which was later known as One in a Million. One in a Million performed live in support of The Who during their tour of Scotland in 1967. That year, One in a Million released their "Fredereek Hernando"/"Double Sight" single on MGM. The single is now highly collectable, and an expensive purchase, now classed as a classic and obscure UK psychedelic release. Double Sight, a CD compilation of these and other songs written and recorded by the band, was released in 2009.
In April 1967, McCulloch played lead guitar for the Utterly Incredible, Too Long Ago to Remember, Sometimes Shouting at People during The 14 Hour Technicolour Dream event, which was held on the grounds of the Alexandra Palace in London.Article: Bell: Performance puzzling...and a plastic past, by Ian McDonald, NME, issue dated 25 November 1972. That year, he played guitar for One in a Million, which performed live at The Upper Cut and other London venues. Rock Obituaries: Knocking On Heaven's Door; . p. 408.
McCulloch first rose to fame in 1969 when he joined Pete Townshend's friends, Andy 'Thunderclap' Newman (piano) and songwriter John 'Speedy' Keen (vocals, drums), to form the band Thunderclap Newman. The band enjoyed a UK No. 1 hit with "Something in the Air" that year. Thunderclap Newman's album, Hollywood Dream, on which the title instrumental, written by McCulloch and his brother, sold well but was not as successful as their hit single. (Reissues of the album include another McCulloch brothers song, "I See It All".) From January to mid-April 1971, the band toured England, Scotland, The Netherlands, and Scandinavia and disbanded shortly thereafter.
In October 1971, McCulloch played guitar in concert with John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers in England, Scotland and Germany. On 31 October 1971 McCulloch's band Bent Frame made its performance debut in London. The band subsequently renamed itself the Jimmy McCulloch Band and toured England and Scotland in support of Leslie West's Mountain in February 1972. By then, McCulloch had done session work for Klaus Voormann, Harry Nilsson, Steve Ellis, John Entwistle, and others.
In June 1972, McCulloch joined the blues rock band (and fellow Mayall-school alumni) Stone the Crows to replace guitarist Leslie Harvey, who had been electric shock on stage. Band on the Run: A History of Paul McCartney and Wings. . p. 120. McCulloch helped Stone the Crows to complete their Ontinuous Performance album by playing on the tracks "Sunset Cowboy" and "Good Time Girl". Stone the Crows disbanded in June 1973.
In 1973, McCulloch played guitar on John Keen's album, Previous Convictions, had a brief stint in Blue and played guitar on Brian Joseph Friel's debut album under the pseudonym 'The Phantom'. The New Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll. . p. 1005.
During his time with Wings, McCulloch formed White Line with his brother Jack on drums and Dave Clarke on bass, keyboards, and vocals. They played several impromptu gigs and released a single, "Call My Name"/"Too Many Miles". A 13-track album, White Line – Complete, was released in 1994 on Clarke's Mouse Records. Jimmy McCulloch and White Line appeared on the British television programme Supersonic on 27 November 1976. In addition, McCulloch recorded and produced two unreleased songs by the Khyber Trifles and had occasionally performed live (in London and their native Glasgow) with the band. Finally, as noted above, he played guitar on Roy Harper's album Bullinamingvase and Ricci Martin's album Beached, in 1977.
McCulloch's alcoholism periodically became a problem while Wings was recording in the studio or performing on tour. McCulloch was arrested for reckless driving during Wings' 1974 stay near Nashville, Tennessee. While on tour with Wings in Paris in March 1976, McCulloch broke his pinky finger while destroying a television set in David Cassidy's hotel room; the injury required delaying the U.S. leg of the Wings Over the World Tour by several weeks. McCulloch was thrown out of Wings by McCartney in August 1977, during the recording sessions for "Mull of Kintyre", allegedly for a drunken rage at the McCartneys' Scottish farm estate that included McCulloch smashing chicken eggs produced by Linda McCartney's pet hens.
In September 1977, McCulloch joined the reformed Small Faces during the latter band's nine date tour of England that month. Band on the Run: A History of Paul McCartney and Wings. . p. 114. He played guitar on the Small Faces' album, 78 in the Shade. In early 1978, McCulloch started a band called Wild Horses with Brian Robertson, Jimmy Bain and Kenney Jones, but both McCulloch and Jones left the band soon afterward. In 1979, McCulloch joined the Dukes. His last recorded song, "Heartbreaker", appeared on their only album, The Dukes.
A melodic, heavily blues-infused guitarist, McCulloch normally used a Gibson SG and a Gibson Les Paul, and he occasionally played bass when McCartney, Wings' usual bassist, or Laine were playing piano or acoustic guitar, which he used Fender Precision or Fender Jazz basses. For acoustic guitar work, he used Ovation acoustic guitars.
In 2021, an episode of BBC Television's The Repair Shop featured two platinum discs for Wings at the Speed of Sound and Wings over America, presented to McCulloch for his work with Wings, which were taken for restoration by his cousin. In the same year, a biography on Jimmy’s life and career, Little Wing: The Jimmy McCulloch Story, was published as well.
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